LIBREVILLE (AFP)  Some 2,000 people protested in Libreville on
Saturday against French non-governmental groups that have denounced
Gabonese President Omar Bongo Ondimba's acquisition of luxury homes
in France.

"Gabonese civil society doesn't want self-proclaimed advocates. We
don't need them, neither in France nor elsewhere," said Ghislain
Etoughet, president of a group named Don't Touch My President, which
includes unions and other associations. In a letter to the presidency
the group said: "We want to show our strongest condemnation toward
the biased and wreckless actions taken by these French NGOs and
associations."

In July, the French chapter of the Transparency International anti-
corruption watchdog filed a complaint against five African heads of
state, including Bongo, whom it accuses of owning French properties
bought with embezzled money.

The French newspaper Le Monde and the television network France 2,
citing French police reports, reported in March that Bongo and his
family owned 33 properties in France, including a private hotel in
Paris bought in 2007 for 18.8 million euros. The reports caused
tensions between the two countries, with Gabon threatening to review
relations with France.
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Let me get this straight. According to this press release, 2000
Gabonese protest the fact that their president has been outed as an
embezzler of a significant amount of their nation's wealth. Only in
Gabon......

Brad Hodges

Bob, My guess is that this article first appeared in L Union in LBV, and that the protesters were paid with casiers de Regab -Brad ... De: bobutne

Message 2 of 2
, Oct 5, 2008

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Bob,

My guess is that this "article" first appeared in L'Union in LBV, and that the protesters were paid
with casiers de Regab